The present invention relates to herpes virus, and more particularly, to medical treatments for herpes virus and other microbial infections.
Herpes simplex virus (HSV) commonly referred to as “herpes virus” or “herpes,” is an infectious disease which has reached crisis proportions nationally with estimated numbers of infected people at 70%-80% of our population as reported by the American Social Health Association (ASHA) and growing annually by 500,000 people or more. There are two common types of herpes: herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV 1) and herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV 2).
Herpes enters the human body through minuscule breaks in the epidermal tissue usually by contact with an infected host and is marked by eruption of one or more vesicles, usually in groups, following an incubation period of approximately four to ten days. Typically the course of the infectious outbreak initiates with the prodromal stage; advancing to vesicular eruption; followed by: ulceration; coalescing; resolution; and the latency period. The outbreak can last for several weeks and on average lasts two-three weeks. In some immune compromised individuals the outbreak can last for months. The vesicles can appear anywhere on the skin or mucosa, typically appearing on the lips as cold sores, glands, oral mucosa, conjunctiva and cornea, genitalia, anal mucosa and peri-anal tissue.
Herpes symptoms include: inguinal swelling, pain, fever, malaise, headaches, muscle aches, and swollen glands. Some individuals with trigeminal nerve affected oral herpes, have excruciating facial pain, difficulty swallowing, eating and facial swelling. Individuals with the sacral nerve effected have severe upper leg pain, swelling, and great difficulty walking.
Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection is recrudescent, residing in the nerve ganglia, then recurring due to some, as yet unknown, stimulus. Recurrent herpetic infections can be precipitated by almost anything, including: overexposure to sunlight; nutritional deficiencies; stress, menstruation; immunosuppression; certain foods; drugs; febrile illness; etc. Recently herpes virus was isolated from cardiac tissue.
HSV 1 and HSV 2 infections pose very serious health threats often causing: blindness; increased cancer risk of the cervix; aseptic meningitis and encephalitis; neonatal deaths; viremia; etc. The devastating effects of this disease, go well beyond the medical scope of human suffering; HSV is responsible for serious psychological and emotional distress as well as substantial economic loss to the nation and the world.
Various treatments for herpes have been proposed and have included topical application of such agents as povodoneiodine, idoxuridine, trifluorothymidine, or acyclovir. Such treatments have met with varying degrees of success. Most prior treatments have proven disappointing. Acyclovir, taken orally for systemic treatment of HSV, is somewhat effective. However, acyclovir is only successful in interrupting the replication of the virus and is used to treat infectious outbreak systemically. Nothing to date has proven really effective topically. Strains resistant to acyclovir have been reported. Individuals with Auto Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) are seriously immune-compromised and suffer especially debilitating outbreaks of HSV. Additionally, AIDS individuals may carry acyclovir resistant strains of HSV, which can make acyclovir ineffective for these individuals.
It is, therefore, of utmost importance to develop a safe and successful medical treatment to overcome the very serious problems of herpes virus.